I. The Bible is the authoritative foundation for science, arts, literature, math, history, geography, geology, physics, chemistry, medicine, biology and all other academic disciplines. Anything which contradicts the Word of God either directly or by ignoring it, is in error.
II. The Material universe was created out of the non material world.
III. The Original Creation was water.
IV. God worked on the first six days of creation. That is, God supernaturally used power that is not being used today. God’s creative power cannot be measured with scientific instruments. There were no human observers.
V. All men have souls. Both men and animals are more than material creatures.
VI. There is good and evil.
VII. Adam was created good but by his own choice became evil. This sin nature is passed to all men.
VIII. Time is part of the original creation. There was no time before God created. The entire universe is less than seven thousand years old.
IX. Four rivers flowed out of the garden in (not of) Eden. The only way this could be possible is that the entire earth was only one continent.
X. All technology, arts and science were fully developed soon after creation, before the flood.
XI. Noah built his ark on a mountain. The draft of his ark was fifteen cubits. When the ark floated off the mountain, every mountain on earth had to be covered. It also means that the highest antediluvian mountain on earth was low enough to build an ark on. It had to be much lower than Kilamanjaro or Mount Everest today.
XII. Men immediately after the flood were technologically advanced. They had ships which could navigate throughout the entire earth.
XIII. Nimrod and the tower of Babel is a true historical event.
XIV. Genealogies are accurate.
XV. The table of nations is accurate.
XVI. Ancient documents which support the Scriptures are accurate. Ancient documents which do not support the Scriptures are in error.
XVII. The Ice Age was immediately after the flood and probably ended while Joseph was in Egypt. This is a time after the flood of worldwide geologic upheaval. The great mountains were created suddenly at this time.
XVIII. Though our modern Gregorian calendar is inaccurate, Adam was thrown out of the garden about 4000 BC and the Exodus took place about 1446 BC.
XIX. Written documents are the records of observers and therefore accurate scientific records. Artifacts unearthed by modern scientists have many problems and are of secondary value.
I found the following on one of Kent Hovinds pages: The Pangea theory teaches that all the continents broke apart 200 million years ago. They show students how the continents seem to fit. Things the textbooks do not tell you:
1. Africa has been shrunk 40% for the drawings.
2. Mexico and Central America are gone.
3. Europe and South America have been rotated counterclockwise and Africa clockwise.
He was the person I was listening to when I first considered the idea of Pangea. According to him, if the water level were much higher or much lower, the continents would no longer be shaped the same at all. Just because the visible parts of the continents look like a good fit, it does not mean that they are pieces of a puzzle. To me, it just doesn’t make any sense. In order for the continents to have been Pangea, and to have drifted apart, maintaining their former shape, it seems that one would have to assume that they were floating on top of the water. In their current state, grounded to the ocean floor as they are, well, it just seems absolutely ridiculous to me. I can’t even begin to explain how I feel about it. I’m not coming from a professional perspective, and I don’t know anyone who claims that they float on the water, but it just seems that you would have to presume that if you believed in Pangea. Does that make sense? I’m not against believing in a single continent, and I could even see how parts of the earth rose up while others sunk during the flood. To me, that would explain current continents. I don’t personally know anything about plate tectonics though, so you are talking to an amateur here. I’m just trying to give you an idea of how it looks to me. Granted, I should have at least studied up on how young-earth creationists generally view Pangea (which is what I am, firmly), before I opened my mouth. I was just going by what I heard on a video tape that was recorded by Kent Hovind 15+ years ago. Goes to show you how stupid we Christians can look when we leap before we look. I did find a website that I like however, and sort of explains what I have the tendency to believe. http://www.gotquestions.org/pangea-theory.html
Sorry for the confusion!
One of the things to keep in mind is that the secularist Pangea theory, as your source pointed out, still allows for the Earth to be millions of years old. The research we have done in ancient documents (which of course are not authoritative as the Bible, but are supplementary resources) indicate a series of catastrophes throughout ancient history. Some of these are hinted at in the Scriptures but not spelled out as catastrophes. The separation of the single continent occurred as a result of the Great Flood and these other catastrophes. Trying to treat the present continents as puzzle pieces that once fit together is short-sighted and that is not the position we take. The Earth’s geomagnetic field has reversed itself in history, possibly more than once, just as one example of a cataclysmic force that could have helped split the single continent. There is so much that supports a young Earth shaped by cataclysms. And these things are supported by the Scriptures.
Thank you so much for your comments! Concerning Pangea, we do not believe it was a floating continent, but just that the Earth only had a single land mass, exact formation and size unknown, which began splitting at the time of the Flood, but there was nothing floating. The mountain mentioned as being the site of the ark construction is explained as being much lower than any modern ones, and you are absolutely correct about the upthrusts and downthrusts during the flood and the aftermath. Rivers flow by gravity, and a central source for the four rivers implies that they came from a “high ground” point. Much of the geology we use comes from Whitcomb and Morris’ Genesis Flood book.
What appears above is just an outline, and we are currently working on a book which we hope will make some of this clearer. Our book Antidisestablishmentarianism introduces some of the Science and Geology we teach, but it, too, just scratches the surface of what we are trying to teach and it’s over 600 pages!
Interesting. I’m glad to hear it’s only an outline. What book are you using? I’m a homeschooler myself, so I’m always on the lookout for good books!
Amy, we are post-homeschoolers, our kids being in their twenties. We are actually in the midst of writing curriculum for homeschool. Our Biblical Studies materials are just completed. When I said teach, I meant things we are trying to teach through our books and blog and website. Sorry for the confusion.
Got it!
Very good list. I think that homeschoolers sometimes get wrapped up in the academic aspect and forget why we are homeschooling to begin with. We need to keep your points in the forefront of our hearts and minds throughout our children’s educational career.
I agree with most of what you say here, but I do not believe in Pangea. Continents do not float around on top of the water; if they did, Pangea would make sense to me. They are all connected to the rest of the earth by the land that is under them which is attached to the land under the oceans. I don’t understand the reasoning that four rivers in Eden proves one continent, but I am interested in your theory.
Also, I cannot find in the Bible that Noah built the ark on a mountain, but maybe I missed it somewhere. Even so, unless the Bible says that he built the ark on the highest mountain in the world, your statement about the ark does not prove your point. I do believe that the great mountain ranges of today sprung up as a result of the flood. I just don’t think you can prove it with your argument.
Not trying to make trouble; I think these are very important points and should be taught diligently to our children. I just think that we should research a little better to find arguments that will hold up when the scorners come along. And they will come…
(From Michael)
Well every day I learn something new. I have never heard of the idea that Pangaea floated on top of water. I believe that the evidence proves that there was a supercontinent at one time, just like mainstream geology believes. I also believe that it split apart very rapidly about 2500 BC during the Noachian flood.